


Loki and the Campfire

by Lycianthara



Series: Loki and the Priest [5]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, dream visit, kidnapping of idunna, story time, thjazi dies, trans loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-19 23:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7382743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lycianthara/pseuds/Lycianthara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His boy gets nightmares when he dreams, so Loki decides to visit him instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loki and the Campfire

It must have been in a dream ,with the way the air was still but not dead, and how the fire crackled and provided just enough warmth, but spread the warmth evenly instead of just one side. The stars glowed brilliantly in the night sky, the young man quickly counting out Orion, seen first by his belt, and then Polaris, and finally what probably was the planet Venus. The young man leaned back on his elbows, realizing with a small shake that his chest was much lighter, and his shoulders much broader. A fine coating of stubble graced his chin and cheeks, defining the bones they rested upon. When he realized this, he knew it must have been a dream. In life, his chest was still weighed down by breasts, his hips were still wide, and his face still only had the womanly peach fuzz gifted to the feminine members of society. 

Approaching from behind on soft padded feet was his god, disguised as a wolf. A very strange wolf, his fur a dusky blonde, with streaks of light tan. His cold black nose prodded at the face of his boy, tongue darting out to lick his face. 

“Would you like to hear a story?” The god’s voice spoke from the depths of his chest, floating like magic into the air.

His boy lay fully onto his back, not-so-doll-like hands reaching up to scratch under the god’s chin and across his furred chest. He didn’t answer -- he didn’t really need to.

The wolf lay down behind him, letting his tail curl around his side to play in his boys face, teasing him. “How about this one time Thor got his head stuck in a tree?”

His boy paused in his strokes, thinking of all the Norse lore he knew. His eyes widened slightly, remembering the perfect story. 

“Tell me about the Kidnapping of Idunna.”

His wolf-god growled, deep and low in his chest. That story was one of many things he had done to upset the Aesir. They blamed him for wishing that he would live another day. They blamed him for wanting to lose his life, or live it out in the servitude of a crude and crass giant. 

With one last growl, he began the story. 

“When I was young and had just become blood-brother to Odin, he and I, and Hoenir, decided to journey across the mountains to see Dagr take to the sky on Skinfaxi. The god would often start late, hoping that he could catch his mother as she came back to dismount form Hrimfaxi. But, once we had stepped foot in the last valley, we had made a grave mistake. 

The mountains were ruled by the giant Thjazi, who took form as an eagle to patrol his borders. When we had come to the foothills, we found a herd of oxen, and slew the fattest of them for ourselves. When we had tried to cook the different cuts of meat, no matter how long they stood over the fire, they continued to drip blood and be raw. Fire being my domain, I was looked at as causing trouble yet again. Instead it had been the eagle-giant Thjazi. We had slaughtered his ox, and he refused to allow it to cook unless we let him dine with us. Odin agreed to his deal, despite my warning that the deal was too broad. 

And right I was. Once the meat had finished cooking, he flew from his perch and stole the tenderloin, the best of the cuts. Odin was enraged, Hoenir incensed, and I insulted but smug. He did exactly as I predicted. For him to take the best meat was to imply that he was better than all of us. Better than Odin, supposed most wise of the gods, slayer of Ymir, king of Asgard and all Aesir, Creator of all nine realms. Hoenir, who had lived since the first Aesir, and who had helped slay Ymir, brother of Odin. Me, Trickster and Rebel, Aesir and Jotun and Etin, Giver of Fire, Bearer of Beasts and Father of Hel! Better than me! Odin ordered me to strike him, so I took up a stick and tried to hit the bird. That did not work as expected.

The damn bird-giant took the stick in his talons and flew off, with me still attached to the other end. As he flew higher and higher, I tried to get unstuck before he flew too high that the fall would kill me. But he used his magic to keep my stuck on the branch, and soon even if he let go I would not survive the fall.

So, one of my kennings being Silvertongue, I tried to talk my way out of it. I begged and pleaded, promising anything in return if he would let me go back to Odin and say that we could not cross the mountains. In my haste, and naive stupidity, I promised anything. Bastard made sure to ask for something nearly impossible. He wanted Idunna and her garden plethora of fruits and nuts that made us gods young and immortal. I would have never had actually done it if he let me go, but he made me swear. Not on Hel, or the river Gjoll, he made me swear on the Ginnungagap, the great void that all things came from and also returned to. The great Nothing that was the cycle of Creation. 

So I swore, and returned to Odin, saying that the mountains were impassable except to those capable of flight, like Dagr and Nott. He claimed then that the passage was not worth the effort of having to bridle Sleipnir. So we turned back to Asgard, and came upon a great feast to welcome us home. And so Odin and all the great warriors and gods grew drunk and slept fitfully. All but Idunna, who had to carefully guard her garden from thieves and scoundrels. So, while the feast continued deep into the night I confronted her and lied oh so cleverly. I claimed that on our journey I had found great fruits even more powerful than hers. While her fruits and nuts could only halt the hands of time, these fruits could turn it back with a single bite. This I claimed with utmost sincerity, and she believed me. I had not made any great troubles for the Aesir as of yet, and many still trusted me. 

I dared her to come with me on a short trip to see the fruits, and she had to be sure to bring at least one of every nut and fruit of hers to compare with these powerful fruits. So we left, and I bore her to the foothills of the great mountains where Dagr and Nott left from each day on their mounts Skinfaxi and Hrimfaxi. Thjazi, seeing that I kept my promise, swooped her and her basket of nuts and fruits up in his talons, carrying them off to his grand castle in the mountains, Thrymheim.

Meanwhile the Aesir felt odd. The absence of the garden's caretaker caused it to wilt and become filled with weeds, the dying fruits and decaying nuts causing a marked change in the Aesir. They became slow minded, and their hearing and sight began to fail them. Though their appearances remained largely the same, the inner workings of their bodies began to shut-down. They began to age, if only on the inside. Odin sent out the wolves Geri and Freki and the ravens Muninn and Huginn, gifts from my weregild. They returned with the Aesir gathering at their heels, and knowledge that the garden was empty of its caretaker. Heimdallr reported to Odin that he had seen me leave Asgard with Idunna, traveling in the direction of Thrymheim. I was told Odin boiled in the fact that his blood kin had betrayed him and his people. I was captured and brought before Odin, and he demanded an explanation. I told him of the eagle Thjazi, and our deal, and how I was simply trying to save myself. Odin brought down the sentence that if saving my skin meant giving up his, then I should give up my own to rescue theirs. He demanded that I return to Thjazi and rescue Idunna, or he would personally hunt me down and hang my head above his throne. 

I knew I would not be able to do so unaided, and demanded the best warrior from Valhol come with me. I was denied. But as I had not yet made trouble with Freyja, she lent me her falcon-feathered cloak. It allowed me to take the form of a falcon and fly greater distances than even the great Sky mounts. And so I flew, beak and all, across the great valleys and over the hills of Midgard, and into the great mountains of Jotunheim, coming to bear on Thrymheim. When I arrived, I first could not find either of them in the great hall. So I set out across the yards and courts of the great castle, until finally I heard crying and followed it to Idunna. At first she did not trust me, which was fair, I had been the one to get her captured by the giant. But it took her hearing Thjazi coming up the steps to her bedchamber for her to agree. Quickly, I used my magic to make her and all her fruits and nuts small before putting them inside the largest nut, a hazelnut, and carrying her away in my beak. As the door opened was when I finally dove from the windowsill and began the flight back to Asgard. I flew as fast as I could, but eventually Thjazi had caught up in his eagle form. He could see with his own magic that Idunna was in the nut I carried. 

He chased us all over Yggdrasil, across the realms as I returned to Asgard. In my absence the Aesir had used what remained of their energy to build a great fence of wood and were ready to light a great fire upon it. I dove for the fence once I was near enough, and as I came up on the Asgardian side the Aesir lit the fire. However their energy had grown depleted and they were too weak to build it up. With the Aesir weak and a fire with no tender, Thjazi could easily depose the Aesir and steal not only Idunna’s gifts but all Nine Realms. So I threw off Freyja’s cloak and released Idunna from the hazelnut. Fire is my domain and using the last of my energy and magic I built up the fire to fantastic proportions, reaching so far into the Asgardian sky that Yggdrasil’s highest leaves nearly caught fire. Thjazi could not turn fast enough to avoid the flame, and it devoured him, the prince of Jotunheim.   
And thus was Asgard saved, by my hand, for the first of many times.”

The god’s story concluded, and his boy had long since ceased to pet him. Instead, he curled into the lupine body, his head resting on the god’s paws. He gazed up at his god with wide eyes as he had received far more than he thought he would in provoking the god to tell him a story of his mischief, rather than that of Thor’s. But then, a thought struck him.

“If Thjazi was the prince, then who was king?”

His god chuckled, a warm baritone that bounced around his chest and throat, pulsing against his boy. “That is a story for another time. For now, rest boy. You have work in the morning.”

The boy shut his eyes as if he wasn't already asleep and the god shifted, kissing his boy with soft and full human lips.


End file.
